What is Copyright? Definition & Meaning of Copyrights

Definition and Meaning of Copyright – You might have heard several times, that movies or music which is launched holds copyright over it. You must be thinking what does that mean? Here is the answer to the question. It is defined as a legal law which is created by the law of the country which is, to grant the original creator of the work, with some exclusive rights for its usage and also distribution. It is provided for a limited period of time. These rights are not absolute but have a few limitations and exceptions attached to it which include fair usage. It a form of intellectual property which holds its applicability to a certain form of work which is creative. It can be shared among multiple users, each of whom is allotted a particular set of rights or work license and they are commonly referred as ‘rights holders’. The allotted rights basically include-reproduction, distribution, performance in public, ethical rights like attribution and control over the derivative works.

Such rights are also known as territorial rights because they do not extend beyond a particular jurisdiction’s territory. These rights can be applied to various intellectual, creative and artistic forms such as literary works like poems, plays, theses etc, musical compositions, choreography, sculptures, paintings, drawing, recordings, industrial designs, and broadcasts over television, the software of the computer, motion pictures, photographs, and even radio.

Here are a few exceptions to what is protected by such copyrights-

Products names

The names of the organizations, business and also groups.

Work titles

Slogans, mottos, catchphrases, catch titles or even the expressions of short advertisements

The listings of the recipe’s ingredients, formulas and also the labels of the product.

What are the exclusive rights provided to the holder of the copyright?

Exclusive rights mean that the holder of the rights is free to exercise these rights whereas other people are prohibited from using it without proper permission from the user. The rights attached to the holder of the rights are-

The production of the copies of work or the reproduction of the work having rights over it and selling of the copies which also include the electronic copies.